DefenceTalkThe Pentagon plans to spend an additional $900 million in the coming year to boost cyber defense measures, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Thursday. US officials are still reeling from last year’s revelation that personal data from some 20 million federal employees, contractors and others had been hacked in a massive breach at the Office […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-boosts-spending-to-fight-cyber-attacks-66866/

DefenceTalkWith renewed focus on how encrypted messages can be used to plot terrorist attacks, President Barack Obama’s administration is stepping up pressure on the tech sector to help in the battle. Although issues around encryption have been ongoing for decades, the prickly topic has sprung to the fore in recent weeks following killing sprees in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/data-encryption-in-sharp-focus-after-deadly-attacks-66091/

DefenceTalkAcross the United States, 3200 separate organizations own and operate electrical infrastructure. The widely dispersed nature of the nation’s electrical grid and associated control systems has a number of advantages, including a reduced risk that any single accident or attack could create a widespread failure from which it might take weeks to recover. Since the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/darpa-protect-nations-electrical-grid-from-cyber-attack-66088/

DefenceTalkEU member states and lawmakers have clinched a deal to prevent cyber attacks by requiring Internet firms like eBay, Amazon and Google to boost their defences and report breaches, officials said Tuesday. They said the first EU-wide draft rules agreed late Monday would also oblige power companies, financial institutions as well as transport, health care […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eu-to-impose-rules-on-internet-firms-to-prevent-cyber-attacks-66017/

DefenceTalkThe U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has selected Raytheon Company to be the prime contractor and systems integrator for the agency’s Network Security Deployment (NSD) Division. NSD is responsible for the National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS), a system providing the vital infrastructure that assists more than 100 federal civilian government agencies with the protection […]https://www.defencetalk.com/raytheon-to-provide-mission-critical-cybersecurity-solutions-to-us-dhs-65506/

DefenceTalkThe Network Integration Evaluation, or NIE 16.1, which takes place Sept. 25 through Oct. 8, will be the largest NIE ever, since the exercises started in 2011, said Brig. Gen. Terry McKenrick. Normally, there are between 3,500 and 3,800 participants in NIE, said McKenrick, who is the commanding general, Brigade Modernization Command. NIE 16.1 has […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-army-hosts-largest-ever-joint-combined-network-exercise-65489/

DefenceTalkFORT BLISS, Texas: “The greatest threat I face as a brigade commander on the battlefield is not [enemy] tanks, snipers or IEDs,” said Col. Chuck Masaracchia. “It’s defending the network.” Masaracchia, who is the commander of 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, spoke just prior to the start of Network Integration Evaluation 16.1, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/cyberattack-no-1-threat-says-brigade-commander-at-nie-16-1-65486/

DefenceTalkUS law enforcement officials warned Wednesday that criminals and terror suspects would benefit from stronger data encryption, and called for service providers to retain access to such protected data. Calling inviolable data a “real national security problem,” Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates said President Barack Obama’s administration has not ruled out legislation for companies […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-warns-encryption-hampering-anti-terror-fight-64849/

DefenceTalkGerman-owned Patriot missiles stationed in Turkey were briefly taken over by hackers, according to media reports on Tuesday. The attack took place on anti-aircraft ‘Patriot’ missiles on the Syrian border. The American-made weapons had been stationed there by the Bundeswehr (German army) to protect Nato ally Turkey. According to the [Behoerden Spiegel] civil service magazine, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/hackers-give-orders-to-german-missile-battery-64835/

DefenceTalkCompanies are spending increasing amounts on cybersecurity tools, but aren’t convinced their data is truly secure and many chief information security officers believe that attackers are gaining on their defenses, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Charting the future of cybersecurity is difficult because so much is shrouded in secrecy, no one is entirely […]https://www.defencetalk.com/companies-are-making-cybersecurity-a-greater-priority-64559/